Cash Sales Constitute Third Of Total Home Sales In March

Out of the all the homes sold in the United States in March of this year, one out of every three was a documented cash sale. And although this number represents a healthy decline to pre-bubble percentage points, it’s still a higher than normal.

Key Takeaways

The national cash sales average before the housing crisis was 25 percent.
Half of all residential home sales in Miami were cash sales.
The New York City area saw 46.2 percent cash sales.
Washington D.C. had the lowest amount of cash sales in March, at only 16 percent.

Of the all the homes sold in the U.S. during March of this year, one out of every three was a documented cash sale, according to Corelogic.

Although this number represents a healthy decline to pre-bubble percentage points, it’s still higher than normal.

According to the data, the percentage of cash sales in March revealed the lowest start to any year since 2008. Cash sales peaked across the country in 2011, accounting for nearly 50 percent of all real estate sales. Prior to the housing crisis in 2008, cash sales typically averaged 25 percent of national residential real estate transactions.

The cash sales figure echo Bruce Ailion of Ailion Team, who predicted fewer all-cash sales and greater scrutiny for large cash purchases after new regulations forcing buyers of luxury homes to identify themselves instead of using shell companies.

Cash sales forecast from Corelogic.

Local market cash sales

San Francisco and Los Angeles seem to be a bit more on target for the national average in cash sales. Cash sales in the Bay Area took 25.6 percent of the market. In L.A., cash sales only accounted for 22.3 percent of total sales, despited the city’s recent ranking as the no. 2 market for foreign investment.

Baltimore and Washington D.C. are also helping bring the national average down. Of the total sales in the Baltimore area (including Baltimore, Towson, and Columbia in the market area), 28.6 percent of home sales were cash transactions. Washington D.C., on the other hand, only posted 16.1 percent cash sales.

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The New York City area, which placed No. 1 for foreign investments, saw 46.2 percent cash sales.

In Miami, where new skyscraper construction is already competing with a crane-saturated skyline, cash sales made up over half of sales, at 51.4 percent.

The Chicago/Naperville/Arlington Heights area was much closer to the national average. Cash sales in the metro area constituted 31.8 percent of all sales.

Houston, similar to Chicagoland, helped pull the numbers back down to pre-crisis levels, with 30.2 percent cash sales.